1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to portable beverage dispensers carried on the back of a person, and more particularly to a backpack carried on the back of a vendor for transporting and dispensing individual cans or bottles of a beverage that has at least one thermally insulated generally rectangular storage compartment which holds a plurality of cans or bottles of a beverage in vertical descendable disposition and at least one access opening at a lower end of the backpack in a position accessible to the hand of the person wearing the backpack.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Portable liquid beverage dispensers adapted to be transported on the back of a vendor by use of a body harness are known in the art, as disclosed by way of example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,732,977 to Charpiat and U.S. Pat. No. 2,808,965 to Grafia et al. Such portable dispensers include a tank made of rigid material enclosing a liquid storing chamber from which the beverage is dispensed and into which the beverage is charged through a reloading valve connected to the bottom of the tank. The beverage is accordingly dispensed under a gravitational pressure head. To assist in dispensing of the beverage, particularly when the liquid within the tank becomes depleted, the tank chamber may be internally pressurized with air by means of a pump as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,889 to Dolgin.
Motsenbocker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,097 discloses a portable liquid dispenser having an insulated carrying case which contains a first flexible container and a second flexible container positioned therein. A freezable liquid is contained in the second container and the liquid to be dispensed is contained in the first container in contact with the surface of the container with the frozen liquid to cool the liquid to be dispensed. The liquid is dispensed under gravitational pressure.
Boxer et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,298 discloses a flexible water bag or pouch which may be insulated that is carried on shoulder straps similar to a back pack. The liquid is dispensed by a squeeze type dispensing nozzle.
Ash, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,896,402 and 5,199,609 disclose a rigid dispenser tank with an outer insulated jacket and an interior flexible bladder which is pressurized to maintain the liquid under pressure.
Sims, U.S. Pat. No. 3,662,929 discloses a non-insulated rigid container with interior flexible bladder connected to a source of fluid pressure. A fluid substance to be dispensed is stored in the rigid container and the flexible bladder is inflated to discharge the fluid substance under pressure.
Uhlig, U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,434 discloses a non-insulated fluid product dispenser having first container and a second flexible container positioned inside the first container. Fluid to be dispensed is contained in one of the containers and fluid under pressure is introduced into the other container to urge the product fluid through a dispensing nozzle or opening.
Cornelius, U.S. Pat. No. 2,513,455 discloses a non-insulated rigid dispenser tank with an interior flexible bladder connected to a gas container. Fluid to be dispensed is stored in the rigid dispenser tank. The gas fed to the bladder condenses at the pressure and temperature at which the fluid in the container is to be discharged.
Shy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,705 discloses a compressed vacuum insulated bottle which operates by siphonage and compression of an elastic pouch in the top of the bottle stopper to siphon boiling water into the elastic pouch and then to drain off the boiling water by compression.
Billet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,143 discloses a portable beverage dispenser carried on the back of a vendor and has an insulated tank for containing a beverage, a hand pump for manually pressurizing the contents, and a thermally insulated dispensing hose.
One of the major problems with the above described portable dispensers which include a pressurized tank containing a beverage is that the tank requires periodic recharging and/or a separate gas supply tank or hand pump must also be transported in the backpack. Another problem is that the tank containing the beverage must be filled periodically and/or a relatively large number of filled tanks must be readily available.
Portable coolers and backpack coolers which are adapted to contain a number of individual beverage cans are also known in the art.
Calton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,117, discloses a backpack cooler that also serves as a seat which utilizes an insulated rigid foam core that is received inside a cloth sheath or jacket and has a rigid reinforcing liner which defines a well to hold two stacked six packs of 12 ounce can containers. The cloth jacket is retained on the cooler body by a retainer cord, and a pair of shoulder straps fasten to the cloth jacket. The entire structure is strong enough to support the weight of a person, so that it doubles as a seat. The jacket also has an uninsulated accessory pouch. There is no provision for dispensing the cans other than opening the lid of the foam core in the manner of a conventional insulated cooler.
Leslie, U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,237 discloses a portable cooler that may be carried in back-pack style which stores and automatically dispenses a number of cans of beverage. The cooler is comprised of a box-like chamber having self-supporting thermally insulative material on its exterior surfaces. One or more removable coolant-confining containers are positioned within the chamber, each having a serpentine contour of horizontally elongated recesses adapted to hold beverage cans and permit their vertical descent to a door positioned adjacent the bottom of the chamber. The chamber is held within a snug-fitting fabric carrying jacket having a zippered lid and closure for the door, and carrying straps. The door is not accessible to the hand of the person wearing the backpack.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular, by a backpack carried on the back of a vendor for transporting and dispensing individual cans or bottles of a beverage which has at least one thermally insulated generally rectangular storage compartment configured to hold a plurality of cans or bottles of a beverage in vertical descendable disposition, a closable lid at the top end of the backpack, and at least one access opening at a lower end of the backpack in a position accessible to the hand of the person wearing the backpack. In a preferred embodiment, the backpack has a thermally insulated back wall, front wall, opposed side walls, bottom wall, and hinged top wall, a pair of laterally adjacent storage compartments, and a lower portion which extends laterally outward from the opposed side walls to define laterally opposed side extensions, and the back wall has a pair of laterally opposed access openings one in each side extension accessible to either hand of the person wearing the backpack by reaching rearwardly to manually withdraw a lowermost one of the cans or bottles from either storage compartment. A storage pouch may be releasably attached to the backpack to store empty cans or bottles. One or more panels may be installed on the exterior of the backpack which are imprinted with a picture or other advertising indicia to represent the type of beverage contained within the backpack. Alternatively, a hollow shell may be installed on the exterior of the backpack which is configured to resemble the shape of a beverage container of the type contained within the backpack.